Maldives Island

Maldives Islands

Summer 2003

I watched in slight fear as the speed boat pulled away and left me behind for the next few days.

I have four days in the Maldives Island.  I am not really familiar with this country but I was so close I thought I would take a quick look as I head back to the USA on my way home from India.  There are many island options in all of the tourist sites.  I pick one of the smallest islands as I am hoping to get as far away from people as I can. India was just so crowded.  Now I want a little solitude. So I fly into the capital city and hop a speed boat that is going to take me to my remote island. We travel for about an hour when a speck of land shows up out of nowhere.

“There it is,” he announces and I squint to see where he could possibly drop me off.  He takes a curve and a long, long dock appears to our left.  He pulls up to the dock and just holds on to one of the posts.  He doesn’t even stop the motor.  I climb out and take a look at my long walk to the main lodge, a building no bigger than a hut.

“OK”, he says, “I will be back for you on Wednesday at 10:00 AM. That will be plenty of time for you to catch your flight home.  Enjoy your time here.”  And with that he was gone, quickly out of my sight and I looked around and saw nothing but this tiny, tiny island and I think to myself, “Oh please God, don’t let there be a storm in the next four days,  a little bit of rain and this island will be wiped out.” Then I panicked that this boatman may never come back and I become a permanent fixture on this island.

He did come back for me and I did make it safely home. But four months later, I am watching the news and a tsunami just hit that part of the world and wiped out Sri Lanka and other surrounding areas.  I never heard what happened to the Maldives Island but I am sure my little island is gone forever.